The Blaze, 170-3 defeat Lancashire Thunder, 169-4

The Blaze gained revenge for Monday’s County T20 Cup semi-final defeat, chasing 170 in fine fashion to defeat the Lancashire Thunder in their second game of the Vitality Blast Women’s competition at Emirates Old Trafford.

With three defeats to Lancashire so far in 2025 (two in the Metro Bank One Day Cup and the aforementioned semi-final loss), the victory was especially sweet as The Blaze responded perfectly to their draw against the Bears the day prior.

Georgia Elwiss celebrated her birthday in style, setting up the chase superbly with 53 runs off 44 balls, before Kathryn Bryce was clinical to close out the chase, finishing 49* off 29 balls to seal the win with five balls remaining.

Kirstie Gordon won the toss and elected to bowl, as The Blaze welcomed back Sarah Glenn to their line-up after international duties. Thunder openers Tilly Kesteven and Katie Mack started brightly, taking 48 runs off the first five overs before Cassidy McCarthy struck, castling Kesteven (24) with a brilliant yorker.

Joined by Seren Smale, Mack was undettered, and began an excellent attack, looking in supreme control as the pair built the innings nicely for the Thunder.

It took a superb intervention in the field from Sarah Glenn to finally bring Mack to a halt - completing a spectacular one-handed catch off Elwiss' bowling to remove the Australian for a well made 59 off 37 balls, the Thunder now 2-106.

The Blaze then began to drag things back, gaining control of the contest with the ball. The pressure told, as Smale (24) danced down the wicket to Sarah Glenn, and was subsequently stumped by Sarah Bryce.

The Thunder managed to finish with a bang, scoring 30 runs from the last three overs, as Sophie Ecclestone (22) and Fi Morris (27) boosted the home side to a strong total of 169-4.

Faced with a similar chase to their home game against Bears, The Blaze knew the equation, and judged their innings brilliantly.

Marie Kelly and Georgia Elwiss were positive from the off, with Kelly in particular showing real intent to disrupt and attack the Lancashire bowlers. Elwiss then stamped her authority on the contest, taking Sophie Ecclestone for 14 runs off her first over and forcing her out of the attack.

The pair finished the powerplay 63-0, and were relatively untroubled until Kelly finally looped one to Ecclestone off the bowling of Tara Norris, finishing with 40 off 31 balls to set the table for The Blaze at 101-1 through 11 overs.

A feature of Elwiss’s innings - and perhaps the deciding factor in the game - was how she didn’t let England left-arm spinner Ecclestone settle. She continued to push the star spinner, and reached her second fifty in consecutive games as her superb debut season in Blaze colours continued.

The game did tighten up slightly when Elwiss dragged Mahika Gaur’s left-arm seam to long-off, falling on 53 and leaving the remaining work to the Bryce sisters, with Kathryn settling typically well with Elwiss before her departure.

The target became 49 off the last five overs, and Kathryn Bryce was in no mood to leave things to chance, taking Sophie Morris for a superb six down the ground to regain momentum. Gaur removed Sarah Bryce, but Kathryn took her for another boundary, as The Blaze then needed 29 off the final 18.

Bryce and New Zealander Maddy Green picked their moment, seeing off Tara Norris before attacking spinner Sophie Morris in the penultimate over. Bryce hit consecutive fours, before Maddy Green struck a sublime six down the ground to take 16 off the over, leaving just two runs for Bryce to score on the first ball of the final over to secure victory.